Thursday, August 15, 2013

Time

Today marks about two months in paradise. We are anticipating another very wet weekend. And it has been hot, hot, hot so a few thunderstorms will cool things down to the lower 80s. We have enjoyed driving which is what you do in Jacksonville. I learned yesterday that J-ville is one of the best radio markets in the country because people spend so much time in their cars. It is nothing to drive 30 to 40 miles to work or shopping or church. This is something of a culture shock after living in a place for the past 14 years where we drove in a three mile loop most of the time. We are astonished by all the gas stations where the prices fluctuate daily based on what the competition is doing. Not only gas stations, but there are stores galore which has been a fascination for us. We often talked about what it would be like to get off the Rock (Kodiak Island) and live in the lower 48 again. Truly, we had forgotten. Truth is, once the shock wears off and you get your fill of the big box stores, I can say it is really not that big a deal. Driving, shopping, comparing gas prices is not all it's cracked up to be. Life is still mostly sleep, eating, praying, working out, (of course, we have been "off work" for two months!), reading, checking how the Mariners and Yankees are doing, reading and spending time with people you want to spend time with. The weather, the shopping, the driving, the gas stations and new restaurants become distractions. There is only so much time and how do you want to spend it. There are ads for cable tv, dish tv and direct tv that arrive every week and it is cheap to get connected but so far we have resisted the temptation. The question here like anywhere else is what do you want to do with the gift of time you have been given.